Run
by somethingnothing
Summary: Running has been the only constant in Quinn Fabray's life. Will running lead her to something more?
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hey! This is my first foray into fanfiction. So be gentle, please. ;) And review! I need reviews to live!**

Running was the only constant in Quinn Fabray's life.

While everything changed, her relationships, her friends, her living arrangements even, she would still run. The only time she stopped was when she was pregnant, in the final few months. But that was all over now. It was the summer before senior year, and Quinn was focusing on herself.

Every day she would take the same route; past the park, by the street full of stores, winding through the rows upon rows of suburban houses.

She would pass the same houses every day. Finn's house, Mike Chang's house, Santana's house (which, contrary to what she would say, was in a relatively upper class area; not the much more "badass" Lima Heights.) Her friends were never awake to see her speed past their drives, though.

However, one day she decided to change her route. Quinn couldn't say why she did it; it was very unusual for her to change anything to do with her running. Her routine was almost a new religion to her. It had been there for her when no one else had.

She liked things in their place, in the correct order. Her obsession with doing things in the right way was not far from Ms Pillsbury's obsession with cleanliness. So what made her change it now?

As her feet pounded at the pavement, she considered where her subconscious was taking her. The reasonably sized house with a large porch that she was approaching was vaguely familiar... who lived there? She must have been to a party there or something. Yes, that was it. She remembered stumbling down the gravelled path in a drunken haze a few months ago. But she still couldn't remember who lived there.

_Wow, _Quinn thought, _I must have been wasted._

When she was only a few metres away from the house, she realised that there was a small figure sitting out front. The girl's head was bent over and she held a newspaper in her lap. Her rich chestnut hair curtained around her face, obscuring it from her view momentarily. The noise of Quinn's trainers against the road seemed to surprise the girl. Her head snapped up, looking for the source of the noise, and her deep brown eyes connected with Quinn's hazel ones.

It was suddenly apparent to Quinn why this place was so familiar to her...

It was Rachel Berry's house.

Every morning Rachel would wake up at five thirty am sharp and do her daily exercises on her elliptical, and then eat a simple vegan breakfast consisting of a grapefruit and green tea on her porch.

She never saw anyone at that time in the morning. It was just another time when she was alone.

It was a bit of a surprise to her when she heard a runner approaching. She lifted her head from the newspaper she was reading to smile at them, or maybe say good morning.

She nearly had a heart attack when she saw that her fellow exercise enthusiast was none other than former Head Cheerleader Quinn Fabray.

_What the hell do I do now? _Quinn thought frantically. _I've been staring slack-jawed at her for too long already! She's going to think I'm insane or worse, that I'm __**stalking **__her or something! _

"Uh. Um. Hi."

_Real freaking smooth Fabray. _

"Hello, Quinn. I was certainly not expecting to see anyone out at this time of the morning."

"Well, you're up.."

"I.. guess I didn't really think of it like that. This is just so normal for me."

"It is for me too. I run at this time every day. I just kinda changed course today."

Rachel smiled. There was a touch of sadness in there. It wasn't the Rachel Berry patented megawatt smile.

Quinn looked down at her laces. This conversation was the definition of awkward. After everything that had happened between them over the past couple of year, it was hard for it not to be.

Especially after prom.

Quinn still felt terrible. It was in her nature for her to lash out at those she loved. She was instantly sorry after she had delivered the slap to Rachel's face, and she'd gushed with apologies straight away. Rachel had been so nice to her afterwards, wiping away her tears and consoling her with compliments. She didn't deserve her as a friend.

"I really am sorry, Rachel. Not just for prom, but for everything. For ever making you feel like you were worthless, for making your life a living hell. You know, you're one of the nicest people I've ever met. You're so, so talented too, and I've always been... jealous of you.

When you said I was your friend at the doctor's office, it hit me. I don't deserve your kindness at all. I'm the worthless one. I..." Quinn swallowed. A tear landed on the dusty pavement. "I'm sorry I came. I didn't mean to intrude."

She turned on her heel and began to leave. But before she could, she felt a small hand on her arm, stopping her. Rachel walked around her so they were facing each other. Slowly, almost as if she was almost checking that Quinn wasn't going to lash out and hit her, she put her arms around Quinn's waist and enveloped her in a gentle hug.

Rachel was everywhere. She assaulted Quinn's senses. Her hair was silky soft against her cheek, her smell infiltrated her nose, and her compact body pressed against hers. It was too much, but at the same time not enough. All Quinn could do was relax into the embrace and hold on to her for dear life.

Time seemed to slow down. When Rachel finally pulled away, it felt like her arms were missing something dear. Their eyes locked again and something passed between them. It was like a slow burning fire in Quinn's chest.

It was all too much for her.

"I, I should go. I'll see you around, I guess. Um, bye Rachel." Quinn stuttered. Quinn Fabray doesn't stutter. What was the matter with her?

"Goodbye Quinn." Rachel smiled. It wasn't her megawatt smile, but something different; it was real, happy and honest.

Quinn set off at a slower pace than before. Her heart was beating at a hundred miles per hour. It felt like it was pounding out a steady beat – _Ra-chel. Ra-chel. Ra-chel._

Quinn shook her head, thoroughly confused. _Why am I feeling like this? It's just Rachel Berry. My __**friend**__. Nothing more. Really._


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thanks so much for your responses to the story so far! I wasn't expecting as many reviews as I got in just a few hours, so again, gracias. The Faberry fandom is awesome. **

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

As Quinn reached the turn off that would either lead her on to the park or to Rachel's house, she considered something; why was she going back? She'd said all she needed to say to Rachel. All had been forgiven. But still, she felt that strange electric pull from her subconscious back to the Berry house.

It was a beautiful day. The sun shone through the leaves on the trees, which were ruffled by a gentle breeze. Quinn was running up Rachel's street, and thinking about how today could be a day for something to change. Her life had been feeling rather stale and boring lately. Since the school year finished she hadn't seen her friends much; Brittany and Santana were far too wrapped up in each other to think of her. She was very much the third wheel, the gooseberry. Mercedes called her from time to time, but she knew that she spent a lot of her time with Sam now. Quinn was really, honestly happy for them. They'd been dating for a while now, and it was great to see two people that she cared about together and happy.

It seemed that everyone had someone, except for her.

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

For once Rachel Berry jumped out of bed not just to keep her body in tip-top condition, but because she was truly looking forward to something. She rushed her work out on her elliptical and put a little make up on before settling outside on to her front porch with her breakfast. When she heard the tap-tap of Quinn's sneakers on the street she smiled, and sighed. It was a sigh of relief. She wasn't quite sure why she was so relieved that Quinn had chosen to run past her house again, but there had been a niggling seed of doubt in the back of her mind as she'd prepared for her visit. _What if she doesn't show? It might have been a onetime thing. Maybe she just wanted to apologise. You're being stupid, Berry. She won't want to be friends. Hell, maybe yesterday was some bizarre dream you conjured up from lack of sleep._ The voice in her head sounded an awful lot like that of Santana.

But here she was, the mysterious Quinn Fabray in all of her blonde ponytailed glory. She had on a simple blue vest today, and Rachel couldn't help but think of how beautiful it looked against her lily pale skin. She was gorgeous, porcelain perfection. Rachel was stunned into silence. A rare occurrence.

"Hi!" Quinn said brightly. She looked somewhat happy for once. Rachel noted the slight quiver in her voice. _Is she as nervous as I am? _

"Hey, Quinn. Having a good run?"

"I am. The weather's so nice today... It just feels like a day where you could do anything at all." Quinn's voice had a dreamy quality to it. Rachel found it hard to adjust to this Quinn. She was so used to the icy queen from school who was nothing if not always harshly realistic.

"It is. Would you like to... join me for breakfast today?" When it took a few seconds for Quinn to reply, Rachel steeled herself for rejection, in the same way that she would steel herself against the frozen ice beverages that were thrown in her face every day at school.

"I'd love to." Quinn gave her a decidedly warm smile. Rachel's face felt similarly warm.

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

After they sat down, Quinn noticed that there were two cups of steaming green tea resting on the small table, and two wooden chairs next to it.

"So you were expecting me to say yes then, huh?" She teased lightly.

Rachel blushed slightly. "Preparation is everything, Quinn!"

A comfortable silence fell between them as they sipped on their tea.

"What're your plans for the rest of the summer, Rachel? Showchoir camp?" Quinn asked. She realised that her tone of voice was quite flirtatious, unintentionally. It had just sort of slipped out that way.

"I'm not sure that exists, Quinn! It certainly sounds like something I'd be interested in though. To answer your question, I can't say I've planned anything for the next few weeks. There aren't many people who'd want to... "hang out" with me. What about you?" Rachel even used air quotes. _Too cute... _Quinn thought.

"Well, I didn't have much planned... until I started "hanging out" with this cute girl from school who I met again whilst running." Quinn regretted the word "cute" as soon as it escaped from her mouth. God damn it! Why couldn't she regulate what came out of her mouth when Rachel was around! She felt a blush creeping up her neck.

Rachel began to turn a similar colour. "Quinn... I feel bad for asking this, but is this some sort of dare? Why would you want to hang out with me, when you've got normal, popular friends?" _And a million guys who'd beg on their knees to be around you... _the Santana voice muttered jealously in Rachel's head.

Quinn looked at the other girl in disbelief. "Of course it's not a dare! I... I'm so sorry that I hurt you in the past, Rachel, and I'd _never _do it again. And I don't want to hang out with my popular friends. They don't care about me. Besides, B and S are too invested in each other to spend time with me. Anyway, "normal" is overrated."

"Oh." Rachel said. She'd been made speechless again, in the space of a few minutes, by the same person. Quinn was something, all right. Her head was spinning with the number of unsaid things in her outburst. "They don't care about me" was practically begging to be completed with "like you do."

Quinn smiled at her. "I should really be going. My mom gets worried when I'm not back by 7. Since I moved back in she's been kind of protective. She thinks I'm going to run away all the time!"

Rachel giggled. "It was nice seeing you again, Quinn."

"You too, Rach."

_Rach! She called me by a nickname! _A whole orchestra was playing a romantic overture in Rachel's head.

Rachel stepped forward slightly. Just enough so that it could be taken as a signal that she wanted to embrace Quinn, but not so far that the embarrassment of rejection would sting like a slap to her face.

This time Quinn's arms went around Rachel's waist and Rachel's arms went around Quinn's neck. It felt comfortable. Quinn's body was softer than she remembered.

After a while, they pulled apart slightly so that their arms were still around each other.

_It would be so easy to kiss her right now_ thought Rachel.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Quinn?" Rachel said questioningly.

"Yeah, Rach. Tomorrow." Quinn began to jog away slowly. She shot a quick smile over her shoulder.

_I think I need to sit down... _Rachel's head felt fuzzy and she was lightly tingling all over.

Suddenly, some lyrics came floating into her head.

The sun'll come out  
>Tomorrow<br>Bet your bottom dollar  
>That tomorrow<br>There'll be sun!  
>Just thinkin' about<br>Tomorrow  
>Clears away the cobwebs,<br>And the sorrow  
>'Til there's none!<p>

There truly was a musical number for everything in the mind of Rachel Barbra Berry.

**A/N 2: I don't own Annie, or Rachel or Quinn! If I did I'd be considerably richer... Please, keep reviewing; it makes the sun come out tomorrow for me!**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: So many story alerts and views O.O it's kind of daunting posting this new chapter. I'm feeling the pressure. Anyway, enjoy, and review! **

Quinn was lacing up her shoes the next morning when she heard it; an unmistakeable rumble of thunder. Quinn's first thought was that it would be best to stay home today. It would be dangerous to be running in a thunderstorm. She quickly vetoed that idea; she'd said she'd go see Rachel today, and she couldn't bail on her. Although they were friends now, Quinn still felt like she needed to earn Rachel's trust. One way of doing that was going to see her every day. She could show her that she'd be there for her in the long term that way. So Quinn hurried out of the door, hoping that she could get to Rachel's house before the rain started to get too heavy...

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Quinn's clothes were plastered to her body. They were now so heavy with water that she was struggling to run. Her hair hung limply around her face in clumps and she could feel the mascara she had put on that morning dripping down her face.

_This is just freaking great. Rachel's going to take one look at me and make me stand outside the house like a wet dog. There's no way she'll hug me now. _

Quinn frowned up at the sky. _Why, God? Why?_

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Rachel decided to stay in bed. What was the point in getting up, really? There would clearly be no Quinn today. No sunshine. She buried her head in her pillow and covered herself in her duvet completely.

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Quinn stared at the Berry's front door. The pink curtains of the room she assumed was Rachel's were shut, she must still be asleep. Quinn felt saddened. Just as she was about to leave, thoroughly dejected, the door swung open.

Quinn was met by a tiny bespectacled man. He was clearly Rachel's biological father. She was at a loss of what to say. After a lot of opening and closing her mouth, she settled on "Uhhhhhm. Hi." Clearly, the tongue tied thing applied to the whole Berry family.

"Hello there! You must be Quinn! It's a pleasure to finally meet you. Come in, come in, you're soaked, poor thing. I'm Hiram Berry, Rachel's father. She'll be so pleased that you came to see her especially considering the weather."

Yep, this was definitely Rachel's dad, judging by the way he was talking at a hundred miles per hour.

Quinn was lead through the photograph covered hallway and into the cosy living room. The house had a comfortable, lived in feel to it. It was the polar opposite of her house, where there were barely any photos of Quinn or her sister and there were no trophies or certificates to show that their parents were proud of them. Her mom had really been trying to make everything better since Quinn moved back in, but the house still felt like a show home to her, not a real home.

Rachel's father gave Quinn a clean, fluffy towel out of the bathroom and sat her down on the sofa. Quinn cleared her throat nervously and asked "So, how did you know who I was?"

Hiram smiled wanly. "Rachel's always talking about you. Even when you were... not on the best of terms, shall I say, she wouldn't shut up about you. She never blames you for the hard time she has at school, in fact she seems to think that you're just as much as a victim as she is."

Quinn swallowed. "I guess she's right. I was kind of peer pressured into treating her that way. I was the head Cheerio; picking on the... freaks... was practically a duty of mine. I'm so, so sorry about the way I treated your daughter, Mr Berry. I'm really trying to make it up to her. She deserves to have friends, though I'm not sure if I'm worthy of her."

Quinn noticed Hiram's wince at the word "freaks". However, he seemed comforted by Quinn's sincere apology. "It's okay, honey. I get it. Though of course the way my little girl was treated was despicable, I forgive you. I used to be quite popular back in the day, would you believe, and I remember having to pick on Leroy, Rachel's other father, because he was gay. One thing lead to another and, well, here we are!"

Quinn suddenly felt a little uncomfortable. She was sure Rachel's father had picked up on the fact that her feelings for Rachel were not entirely friendly. Why else would he have used that example?

"So, is Rachel still in bed? I thought she'd be up doing her scales by now or something!" Quinn said, trying to change the subject.

"Yep. She is usually up by now; she lives by the phrase "the early bird catches the worm!" Fancy surprising her?" Mr Berry said, with a twinkle in his brown eyes. Quinn noticed that they were the same lovely shade as Rachel's.

"That sounds like a good plan!"

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

After they tip-toed upstairs, Hiram and Quinn put together a master plan; burst into Rachel's room yelling and jump on her bed. It was a classic.

Quinn counted down from three on her fingers, mouthing the numbers. On "one!" they ran into Rachel's very pink room screaming at the top of their voices, and Quinn jumped on Rachel's blanket covered body while Mr Berry jumped up and down on the bed next to them. Rachel squealed "Daddy! What on earth are you doing? And who's that on top of me?"

Quinn pulled down the duvet that was still covering Rachel's face. "Hey, Rach!"

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Rachel was not expecting wake up with Quinn on top of her.

In fact, when she was greeted by her perfect face framed with a halo of wet blonde hair she was so surprised that she shot up out of bed and headbutted her straight in the forehead.

Quinn squeaked in surprise and pain, while Rachel began to gush with apologies.

"Oh my lord, Quinn, are you okay? Daddy, call 911! She could be concussed! Are you seeing double? How many fingers am I holding up?"

"Rach. Rachel! Calm it! I'm fine, don't worry that pretty little head of yours."

Hiram chose that moment to leave the room. "I'll leave you ladies to it." He said, with a knowing smile to Quinn.

"Did you run here in the rain just to come see me?"

Quinn blushed. "Mmhm. I said I'd be here tomorrow yesterday, and I keep my promises."

Rachel was acutely aware of the fact that Quinn was still on top of her. She was feeling extremely hot and bothered.

"That's a quality I appreciate. Oh, I didn't realise you were still in wet clothes! Let me find you something dry."

Quinn reluctantly rolled off of her, and Rachel got up to rifle through her closet. She eventually resurfaced with a hoodie that was the same colour blue as the vest Quinn wore the previous day and a pair of leggings. She handed them to Quinn with the intention of leaving the room to give her some privacy to change, but before she knew it Quinn had stripped off to her pale yellow underwear.

Rachel couldn't stop staring. Her mind wasn't able to string a coherent thought together. It just kept coming up with random phrases like _so much skin, her abs are perfect, her legs look so smooth and strong... _She was close to drooling.

_Since when did I turn into Puck? _

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Quinn knew that Rachel was staring at her. She smirked as she saw her biting her lip out of the corner of her eye. As she pulled on the hoodie she made sure to stretch out her torso in a way that she knew would show it off. She was sure she heard Rachel stifle a groan.

"Looks like the rain's not letting up, huh?" Quinn said conversationally as she slowly pulled on the leggings.

"Mmmmmmmmm." Replied Rachel vacantly.

"Looks like I might have to wait it out here. If that's okay with you, I mean."

"Oh yeah, that's okay. Good, I mean. Great. I have plenty of activities we could do."

_Activities! _Quinn thought. _I know I was being a bit of a tease, but wow. You still got it, Fabray!_

"I can't wait!"

**A/N 2: Woo cliffhanger! Kinda. Next chapter will be Quinn and Rachel's day in together, and all the fluffiness that it entails. I probably won't be able to update daily, because I have loads of extremely important exams coming up, but I'll try my best. Thanks for all of your responses, I'm extremely grateful. ^.^**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I'm neglecting Spanish revision to update. It's so worth it. Thanks again for the reviews, I do a little happy dance when I get one, no joke. Also, I upped the rating to M to be safe. There's a rather explicit guest appearance in this chapter. Enjoy!**

"So, firstly, I thought we could paint each other's nails and discuss the latest gossip, and then we could bake vegan cookies and watch a movie. After that, we can just see where the day takes us."

"Uh, sure. That sounds like fun." Quinn was a little disappointed at the lack of "activities"... unless the "just seeing where the day takes us" meant something! Yes, that had to be it.

Rachel went into her bathroom and returned with a huge crate full of nail varnish while Quinn fired off a quick text to tell her mom that she'd be out all day. "What colour would you like, Quinn? I personally think this shade of green would complement your eyes very well."

"That'd be great, Rach."

Their eyes locked. Quinn found herself getting lost in those intense pools of brown. They were so bright and hopeful, and they made her chest hurt a little. She was glad that she'd be the one to do all of these things that Rachel had missed out on with her for the first time.

Actually, come to think of it, she'd never really done this sort of thing with Brittany and Santana. Their sleepovers had been full of evil plotting and B and S sneaking off to make out, while Quinn would watch a movie alone.

She and Rachel were quite similar, really.

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Rachel was smoothing the second coat onto Quinn's middle finger nail when Quinn blurted out "Are you seeing Finn still? Or Jesse?"

Rachel laughed. "No. I realised that Finn and I would just keep going in a cycle of distrust and making and breaking up. And Jesse is still too obsessed with himself to ever be in a relationship with anyone. So I'm a "ridin' solo", as the phrase goes."

Quinn smiled. "Good. I mean, it's not good that you're single, of course. It's just that those guys were nowhere near good enough for you."

"Well, who is then?"

" Um. I, uh. I don't know. None of the guys I know."

"Whilst I find that flattering, Quinn, I also find it unbelievable. It's still social suicide to be dating me, you know. I'm just a singing freakshow to most of the school."

"Are you kidding? Who wouldn't want to date you? You're beautiful, inside and out. I can understand why people wouldn't want me, but not you. I'm a formerly pregnant ex cheerleader. I'm not anything anymore."

Rachel's mouth popped open in a perfect "O". "Quinn, I'm sure I've said this before, but you're the prettiest girl I've ever met. You're not nothing; you're sweet, kind, and really smart. I'm so happy to call you my friend."

Quinn could feel herself welling up. She jumped at Rachel and wrapped her arms around her, trying to convey all of the feelings she had into the hug, and hoping she'd feel them through the simple contact. "Thank you." She whispered into her ear.

"It's nothing, Quinn." Rachel sighed. Quinn smelled really, really good. Rachel snuggled as close to her as molecularly possible.

They stayed like that for a long time, until suddenly Rachel had a thought. "Quinn?"

"Mmmmmmm?" Quinn mumbled happily.

"I still need to finish painting your nails!"

"Screw my nails!" Quinn growled. She wasn't letting go of Rachel any time soon.

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

They unfortunately had to part when Quinn's phone rang. She glanced at the caller ID and her stomach dropped. It was Santana.

"What do you want?"

"Great greeting, Preggo. I'm already so glad I called."

"I'm not. Get to the point, Satan."

"So fucking original. I was going to ask you if you wanted to come hang out with me and B later, but if you're gonna be like that then I won't bother."

"Good, I'm busy anyway."

"Finally got another boyfriend? It's about time."

"No, not that it's any of your business. I'm hanging out with a friend." Quinn could see Rachel beam out of the corner of her eye.

"So you got a girlfriend then? I suspected it all along. My gaydar is finely tuned."

Quinn was sure Rachel heard that. She was giggling.

"No!" She hissed.

"As some old guy said, "Thou doth protest too much". So, who is it, Fagay?"

Rachel was in stitches at that.

"No one! I don't have a girlfriend!"

"Bull to the shit. I can hear some chick laughing in the background. Is she hot? I can usually tell by the voice, I got mad skills. Put me on speaker!"

"No freaking way."

Rachel piped up with "It's fine, Quinn. I'll talk to her."

"... Okay then." Quinn said reluctantly.

"Hello Santana!" Rachel said brightly.

"Holy shit! Is that Berry? I never would have guessed that she'd be the one to unpress your lemon."

"Santana..." Quinn growled in a warning voice.

"What? So, how's the innocent little Catholic girl in the sack, Frodo? And does she enjoy your "Man Hands"?"

Rachel blushed maroon. "I, uhm, wouldn't know."

"It sounds like she wants to find out, Quinn. Imma leave you alone so you two can get your mack on. Remember what I was doing with my tongue that time you walked in on me and Britt in the locker room? You should try it. B couldn't walk straight for 3 days. See ya!"

Quinn was speechless. _I'm going to kill her._

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

The atmosphere in the room became very awkward after Santana's crude (yet strangely informative) phone call. After 5 minutes of Quinn staring at the phone in her hand murderously and Rachel staring at Quinn to make sure she wasn't about to burst a blood vessel or something, Rachel tentatively suggested baking the cookies now. Quinn seemed to brighten up at that and agreed.

Rachel began to gather up ingredients from the cupboards of her kitchen. Quinn cleared her throat and said "Look, Rach. I'm sorry about Santana. She's crazy."

Rachel smiled. "I know. You don't need to apologise for her, I know how lewd she can be."

"But still... she was way out of line. She was downright inappropriate."

"Yes, but I suppose it's part of her charm."

"Never call her charming to her face; you might not live to tell the tale!"

Giggling, Rachel replied "I'll remember that. On a more serious note, if you ever need to talk about your sexuality to anyone, feel free to have a word with my dads or myself. They're very understanding, of course, and I have an extensive supply of pamphlets."

After what felt like an hour of silence Quinn responded. "Ooooookay..."

Rachel's bluntness was really disturbing.

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

After the cookie mixture had been made, Rachel turned away for a minute to fetch the oven trays. Quinn sneakily dipped a spoon into the bowl and into her mouth.

When Rachel turned back, she affixed Quinn with a glare. "It's very unhygienic to eat out of the bowl, you know."

"I have no idea what you're talking about."

"You most certainly do. I can tell when you're lying, Fabray. And you have a telltale spot of cookie dough on your lip."

Quinn reached up to her face. "Where?" She said in confusion.

"Right about there." Rachel said, pointing to the offending blob.

"I still can't feel it, Rach. Could you get it for me?"

"S-sure..."

Rachel leaned in and shakily wiped Quinn's bottom lip with her thumb, being much slower than she needed to be. She could feel that Quinn was breathing heavily. The texture of it was so unbearably soft and smooth. Rachel couldn't help but imagine moving her hand to the back of her neck and pulling her in and claiming her lips with her own.

Quinn was unconsciously staring at Rachel's lips now, and slowly leaning closer. Just a couple more inches...

"Hey kids! What're you cooking up?"

Hiram Berry could not have picked a worse time to enter the room, and he realised it as soon as he was greeted by death stares from his daughter and her new BFF. "I'll come back later." He said, with a wink and thumbs up to Quinn.

Rachel groaned in pure embarrassment and frustration. _Why, why?_

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

When the cookies were baking in the oven, Quinn perused Rachel's DVD collection. As she expected, there were many musicals, from Blood Brothers to Wicked. There were also a fair number of chick flicks and rom coms. The film that caught her eye was Black Swan – it was out on DVD fairly recently and she didn't get the chance to see it at the cinema. Quinn plucked out the box and took it into the Berry's front room.

Rachel was already curled up on the sofa. Quinn sat down next to her. Now, there was that age old dilemma; how do you sit next to someone you like-like in a movie?

Firstly, Quinn scooted close to Rachel, so that their legs were touching. As the movie started to get a little creepy, Quinn snaked her arm up so it was resting on the back of the sofa. _What do I do now? _Quinn thought _I can't just leave it here. I need to put my arm around her, or she'll think I'm a coward. Man up, Fabray! Or on second thoughts, don't._

Quinn decided to try the classic manoeuvre that teenage boys had been using for ever. The old yawn-arm-around trick. She let out a hugely exaggerated fake yawn that sounded more like she was howling, and put her arm around Rachel's shoulder.

Rachel jolted a little at the contact, but settled down and rested her head on Quinn's shoulder. From the stairs Quinn was sure she heard an "Awww!" that sounded suspiciously like Hiram, and a "shush!" that must have come from Rachel's other dad.

The movie was getting deep into the plot now. The main character was beginning to go off the rails, and was out in a club with her female rival. All of a sudden, they were kissing in the back of a cab, and then they were watching the rival go down on the main ballerina. Quinn gulped. Not only were both of the actresses very attractive, but the situation they were in bore some resemblances to her and Rachel's. She meant in that they used to be in competition with each other over Finn, of course. _Not that there'd be any kissing... or anything else...well, yet _mused Quinn.

As the movie came to its tragic climax, Quinn felt a tear roll down Rachel's cheek and onto Quinn's shoulder. "Hey, don't cry... it's just a film!" soothed Quinn.

"I know, I know. It's just that I can identify with Nina's striving for absolute perfection, and it was so sad that when she reached it she... well, you know." Quinn reached for a tissue from the box on the coffee table, and wiped her tears away.

"I remember when you did this for me at the prom." Quinn smiled ruefully. "It's about time I returned the favour."

"Thanks." Rachel sniffled, smiling right back now.

"You don't need to worry about perfection, Rach. You're pretty damn close now."

Rachel's eyes shimmered with unwept tears and emotion. It felt right to lean in slowly so that her nose that she'd worried about for so long was touching the nose that she'd so desperately wanted and their lips were close to touching and _oh god she still smells so so good..._

Beeeeeeeeeeeeep! Beeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeep!

The freaking smoke alarm.

"Oh my god, the cookies!" Rachel jumped away, and Quinn heard her frantically shutting off the oven and wafting the _stupid, stupid _alarm with a towel.

Quinn planted her face on the sofa. Why couldn't today just go right?

**Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx**

Quinn's mom rang her after they'd binned the blackened cookies (Rachel remarked that they were probably better off in the bin; vegan, gluten free cookies were not very tasty anyway), saying that she needed some help grocery shopping and she would drop by and pick her up in a few minutes. Quinn was disappointed to be leaving.

They said their goodbyes on the porch.

"I had a really good time today, Quinn." Rachel smiled another one of her genuine smiles; the ones Quinn thought were reserved just for her.

"I did too. I'll bring your clothes back tomorrow – washed of course." Rachel silently wondered if they'd smell as good as Quinn did. Quinn leaned in once again and settled for giving Rachel a long kiss on the cheek. Today was just not meant to be the day of their first real kiss. One day, hopefully soon, everything would go right.

Quinn's mom hooted her horn.

"Until tomorrow, milady!" Quinn said gallantly, with a tip of an imaginary hat.

Rachel faked a swoon. "You're silly!" she giggled.

"And you love it!" Quinn gave her a wink and disappeared into her mom's small car.

_Today is definitely a contender for the best day of my life so far _thought Rachel as she watched Quinn fade into the distance.

**A/N 2: Loooong chapter. You probably all hate me now for stopping the kiss not once, but twice in one chapter xD I promise you won't have to wait much longer for it. I don't intend on this story being more than 10 chapters. I'm just kind of seeing where my Faberry muse takes me. I'm pretty sure Santana (and possibly Brittany) will make another appearance, mainly because she's just so much fun to write! Anyway, thanks for reviewing/faving and stuff, the amount of emails I'm getting are making me insanely happy!**


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